You may have heard that the cultural authorities at Vogue have decided it’s the “official era of the big booty.” You, like many on Black Twitter who quickly shot down that idea, may have been confused by the revelation that big booties are a recent invention. You may have been surprised to learn that a body part, which has come in all shapes and sizes since the beginning of humanity, could be a trend at all.

You may have heard that the cultural authorities at Vogue have decided it’s the “official era of the big booty.” You, like many on Black Twitter who quickly shot down that idea, may have been confused ...

So, I’m all about that bass. I cannot stop listening to this song. It’s a perfect song for bouncing down the street in a pair of great shoes and sunnies and feeling a little bit invincible. You can’t not dance to this song. But — and when you’re a feminist consuming popular culture, there’s always a but — the lyrics are a bit of a mess. Which is even more disappointing than it might usually be, since the song is being hailed as a body acceptance and self-esteem anthem. Let’s take a look:

Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size twoBut I can shake it, shake itLike I’m supposed to doCause I got that boom boom that all ...

So, I’m all about that bass. I cannot stop listening to this song. It’s a perfect song for bouncing down the street in a pair of great shoes and sunnies and feeling a little bit invincible. You ...

Lady Gaga’s tweet about exercise and diet has turned some heads and with good reason. Not only is she perpetuating unhealthy ideas about health and exercise, but for someone committed to fighting for the underdog–you would think she would be sensitive about making casual mention of not eating enough. And as a role model, you would hope she would realize how much people internalize her words. But despite these transgressions and what she may want us to believe, Gaga is a human being–one that is functioning under extraordinary pressure to fit into a certain body type. Despite, concocting an image that is supposed to be anti-mainstream, she still embodies mainstream standards of beauty, namely being thin. And it shouldn’t be ...

Lady Gaga’s tweet about exercise and diet has turned some heads and with good reason. Not only is she perpetuating unhealthy ideas about health and exercise, but for someone committed to fighting for the underdog–you would think ...

Her analysis may fall short when it comes to hip hop, but Ashley Judd just nailed an important part of how patriarchy functions. This comes from a column at The Daily Beast in which Judd responds to criticism of her apparently “puffy” appearance. Judd calls out the way the attacks come from women as well as men:

That women are joining in the ongoing disassembling of my appearance is salient. Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It privileges, inter alia, the interests of boys and men over the bodily integrity, autonomy, and dignity of girls and women. It is subtle, insidious, and never more dangerous than when women passionately deny ...

Over the weekend, this postcard was posted at PostSecret. For those of you who aren’t familiar with PostSecret, it’s a long-running crowd sourced art project in which people put their secrets on postcards and mail them in. Pretty simple concept, really powerful results.

This card, which I have to assume was created by a woman, certainly isn’t the first one that has dealt with body image issues. As you can imagine, it’s a popular topic at the site because, well, lots of people have deep, dark, secretshitto confess about how they feel about their bodies.

But I was really struck by this one, because it serves as a reminder that insecurity about ...

Over the weekend, this postcard was posted at PostSecret. For those of you who aren’t familiar with PostSecret, it’s a long-running crowd sourced art project in which people put their secrets on postcards and mail them ...